A Letter from Pegasus J Crawford
by ShadyVoid
Summary: Twenty years after Cyndia's death, Pegasus decided that finally he would go join her... Before his suicide, he wrote a letter to Seto Kaiba, recounting what they had done in the past. A new perspective into several plot points in the canon. No pairings involved.


**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own any of the characters mentioned.

**Author's Note**: Although the Yu-Gi-Oh! timeline was never made very explicit, we can deduce the age of the characters from various hints. Here are the ones relevant to this letter:

At debut, Seto Kaiba is 16 in the Japanese version (which I chose for this story) and 18 in the English one. Pegasus is 24. (He was 17 when Cyndia died, and had spent one year in Egypt before creating Duel Monsters, and six years had passed between the creation of Duel Monsters and the beginning of the show.)

Four years passes between Season 1-5 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! original series. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX starts five years after that. By then Seto Kaiba would be 25 or 27, and Pegasus would be 33. This letter is written four years after the debut of GX, with Pegasus at the age of 37.

I have a habit of using a mixture of Japanese names and English names. Sennen Eye is Millennium Eye; Cyndia is Cecelia. Otogi-boy refers to Duke Devlin, whose Japanese name is Ryuji Otogi. Maxmillion Pegasus's Japanese name is Pegasus J. Crawford. His middle name was never revealed as far as I know, so I decided to supplement it. Doma is the name given to Dartz's organisation; the fourth season was called Doma's Arc in Japanese.

This "letter" is written for three main reasons: to address Pegasus' importance in the show, to address the depth of Pegasus and Seto's character, and to address the plot-holes in Yu-Gi-Oh! that concern the two. The last objective is, I hope, done subtly in the context of the "letter". Those who wish to understand the references are welcome to read the **Afterword **below.

It should be noted that all aspects of the original plot have been kept intact, but I have supplemented details of my own where they were not given. These details are made to be entirely coherent with the original material and are intended to enrich the consistency of the original plot.

Just to be clear: this is not Seto/Pegasus pairing.

Please enjoy and review!

* * *

**A Letter from Pegasus J. Crawford**

**By**_** Shady**_

Dear Seto Kaiba,

Chances are, you won't even be reading this. But I think you would. Upon seeing the sender's name you might be quite surprised; you might have discarded this letter instinctively, turning back to your infinite workload, but then you would feel curiosity tug at you: curiosity mixed with a bit of anxiety. Is this about another secret plot to take over Kaiba Corp.? While your slender fingers typed feverishly on the keyboard, you could not help but just take a glance at the letter, lying there on your desk, waiting to be read. Then finally you would succumb to your curiosity and halt your work, to open the envelop... _Just to make sure he isn't up to any trouble again_, you'd say to yourself. I can even imagine your frown when you see how many pages of letter there are, all covered in my beautiful handwriting. Am I right, Kaiba-boy? Didn't all of this just happen? I know you very well, Kaiba-boy, perhaps better than you think.

While you are reading this letter, please take comfort in the thought that I am not scheming to take over Kaiba Corp. again, or trying to kidnap your dear little brother Mokuba-boy. In fact, I can promise you that you will never see me again.

Today is a very special day, Kaiba-boy. Twenty years ago on this day, Cyndia left the world. And today I will join her. I have accomplished all that I hope to accomplish in life; I have seen fairer things than many, and have had my share of luxury. Indeed I may say I had a very fortunate life. I have no regrets, except that I know I must write this letter.

I still remember the day we first met. I daresay you remember too; there are many memories that you lock away at the back of your mind. Of course, I had heard about you before we met. You were famous then, as you are famous now; the story of how a teenager took over a multi-national military corporation and turned it into a gaming company travelled like wild fire. I was impressed, I must say, as I have only come to owning Industrial Illusions by inheritance. After you took over Kaiba Corp., you started to attend Duel Monsters tournaments, and you became a world-class top duelist And then you came to me with your invention: the holographic projections of Duel Monsters.

Kaiba-boy! You were still wearing your school uniform that day, when you came to me, carrying your blueprints. You invented the holographic system a long time ago, you told me, way back when your adoptive father Gozaburo Kaiba (whom you spoke of with suppressed contempt) was still in charge of Kaiba Corp. He used the system for war, but it was not your intention. You showed me how it could work for Duel Monsters, and we came to an agreement. Do you still remember the press conference, where we shook hands in front of that red curtain that read "Solid Vision"?

I can recall my first impression of you, Kaiba-boy. There was such determination and strength in your azure eyes, as if you dared anyone to stand in your way; and your fringes swept down your forehead, but you never seemed to be bothered by the fact that they are poking into your eyes. Your gaze was always so focused and intense, and at the same time arrogant, as if you were superior to everyone else. You hardly ever smiled when we discussed our contract, but when I finally agreed to let you use the holographic system for Duel Monsters, your lips curled in triumph: you looked like you had expected me to agree all along. You appeared to be so mature and confident that I could hardly believe you were eight years younger than I!

Of course, the idea that I could use the holographic system and my Sennen Eye to bring back Cyndia occurred to me as soon as you approached me; it was part of the reason I agreed to your terms. We then planned the Duelist Kingdom tournament together, so you could build duel arenas on the island with the new system installed. You were supposed to be a participant in the tournament yourself, until Yugi-boy came along. He shattered your reputation as a duelist, and at the same time made the Kaiba Corp. stock price plummet. Grasping the opportunity, I spoke to your underlings, the Big 5, just as you did when you overtook Gozaburo. That is how fate turns! And they were all very ready to betray you: the only condition was for me to defeat Yugi-boy in a duel.

What happened afterwards, I'm sure you know by heart. I kidnapped Mokuba, partly because he was eavesdropping on my meeting with the Big 5, partly because he supposedly had the password to the KC mainframe… but mostly because otherwise you would not come to the tournament.

When you dueled Yugi-boy on top of my castle, I was watching from within. You startled me - for a moment, I thought you would really let yourself fall - and I knew of course it was all for your little brother. And then we dueled, and in order to see your cards, I looked into your mind. But my Sennen Eye does not allow me to see only into your current thoughts, but also into your memories...

Through your eyes, I saw your parents' death...

I saw the time you spent in the orphanage...

I saw the Blue Eyes White Dragon card Mokuba drew for you...

I saw your audacious plot against Gozaburo Kaiba...

I could feel your emotions as if they were my own... I felt your pride, your arrogance, your confidence, your ambitions... And I felt your love for Mokuba-boy...

All those sentiments surged inside me all at once. I put on my best mask of childishness, secretly glad that nobody could see into _my_ mind. Within myself I struggled... A part of me didn't want to proceed with the plan. But the desire to see my beloved Cyndia overwhelmed everything else. Just to see her fair face again, and hear her sweet voice... So I took your soul, Kaiba-boy, as I planned. Forgive me! I could only think of Cyndia then, and my Sennen Eye was very eager to absorb your soul - these items of power are also items of darkness.

Then I dueled Yugi-boy. You probably had an account of it from somewhere - like me, you have an insatiable hunger for the truth, and you must have learnt everything about the duel. If you heard the story from Yugi-boy's friends (probably through Mokuba-boy, I believe?), you would have heard the ridiculous tale about their friends blocking the sight of my Sennen Eye from Yugi-boy's mind. If that had been the case - why could my love for Cyndia not overpower their friendship? No, the truth was this: my Sennen Eye was malfunctioning. In a way you were the cause of this, Kaiba-boy, but I could not blame you. After dueling you, I became deeply troubled by your memories, and I began to feel, well, a bit uncertain about my plan. When I received the Eye, I had been told that only the chosen one had the power to command it. The Eye felt the weakness in my heart... And it betrayed me...

After I lost to Yugi-boy, I went up to my tower room to release the souls I captured as I promised. Afterwards... What happened afterwards only confirmed the Sennen Eye's betrayal... I went to the hospital, no longer wielding the Eye...

Kaiba-boy! I thought I knew you well then, after I saw your childhood memories, but how wrong I was. You never cease to surprise me. When I came back, I received a parcel... There was no indication of the sender, but what did I find inside? The blueprints of your holographic system! Unbelievable!

At first I thought it was Mokuba-boy who handed them over, though I could not possibly guess how he knew I needed the blueprints. I had never told anyone about Cyndia, so who could have guessed my intents? Then I remembered that when I came back from the hospital, I had found my diary misplaced, so I watched the security camera tapes from that day. Imagine my astonishment in seeing that you were there all along, standing in the stairway, listening to Tea read my diary aloud. So it was you; it had to be you. Naturally only you had access to the blueprints; you would not trust anyone with them, and Mokuba would never, ever betray you. So it had to be you, Kaiba-boy, who sent me the blueprints.

I poured over them like drinking in the sweetest of wine, and developed the technology back in my headquarters in the United States. But I no longer had the Sennen Eye, and all I could do was to create the life-like hologram of Cyndia. Though it is still a privilege, to be able to see her so life-like, as if she was still close by my side...

And then you hosted the Battle City tournament, a tournament that was supposed to be better than Duelist Kingdom. I take it as a joke. Where is the fun in dueling on the noisy streets, compared to the natural environment of Duelist Kingdom? Where is the excitement in boarding an airship, compared to an ancient castle?

After the tournament you came to me again, disrupting the peace in my castle-home. You ride in a spiffy jet modelled on the Blue Eyes White Dragon, completely forgetting that I am the creator of the monster, and I have every right to sue you for copyright violation. And you wagered your three Blue Eyes in exchange for the one card that could beat Yugi-boy's God Cards, forgetting again that I am the creator of Duel Monsters - if I wanted those dragons, I would never have needed to take them from you, Kaiba-boy! I could have retained them from the market in the first place!

But all the same I dueled you, and whether you choose to believe this or not, I lost to you on purpose. Perhaps the idea had occurred to you, only to be carelessly flung away. I needed to return the favour of the blueprints to you - if I wanted to win, I would never have used the same Toon World strategy that you had seen before.

What interested me was that upon our meeting you acted as impertinent as ever, and there was a perpetual indignant look in your eyes, a tell-tale of your defeat to Yugi-boy- but underneath all that, you are just as childish as I am, Kaiba-boy. Look at your Blue Eyes jet, and your Blue Eyes statues, and your Blue Eyes roller-coasters. You are obsessed with a card from a card game as much as I am with cartoons and Funny Bunny! You appear to be a workaholic and a ruthless CEO, but deep inside, you are still clinging to the childhood you never had; you cannot abandon your love for games, and you build theme parks for unprivileged children, so that they could have what you had not when you were a child...

Soon afterwards all of us became entwined in the Doma business. I oughtn't have lost to Mai Valentine, I know. As the creator of Duel Monsters, I ought not have lost even though she had the Orichalcos card. Perhaps if I hadn't lost, I would have been a greater help to you all. But if I won, Mai Valentine's soul would be lost, and I could not bring myself to let that happen. For a moment, she looked so much like Cyndia, Kaiba-boy. Her flowing blond hair was just like the light that was once in my life... And there was gentleness in the depth of her eyes, despite the glow of the Orichalcos. Perhaps the curse had never entirely left me - even without the Sennen Eye, I sometimes see so much more into other people's hearts...

And then you and Yugi-boy arrived! You probably knew why I made a hologram of myself, instead of choosing the much easier way of leaving a letter or a video tape. I wanted to acknowledge the gift you gave me, and furthermore, the hologram could self-destruct after activation.

After you lost your soul during the duel with Dartz, I saw you in the other-world, where lost souls were floating around in bubbles, queuing up to become food to the Leviathan - though you did not see me. You were still wearing the white coat that you were wearing during the Battle City tournaments - you must be very fond of it - and in your unconsciousness, there was a peaceful look that I have never seen before on your handsome face. Your eyes were closed, and your head slightly bowed, and you were just floating in your bubble, oblivious to the troubles ahead of us...

As we both know, the Doma business ended well. The world was saved again - because of me. Would Anubis be beaten without my Blue Eyes Shining Dragon? Would Yugi-boy be able to defeat Dartz without the Nameless Card I gave him? But of course, nobody would give any thoughts to send me a word of thanks, would they?

Are you still reading this letter, Kaiba-boy? Perhaps you have lost patience long ago, after seeing that I have no secret plots to threaten you into finishing the letter. But if I know you as well as I think I do, you must be still reading. This is, after all, the first and last letter that I will ever send to you.

I am sitting on the rooftop of the castle on the island of Duelist Kingdom, enjoying the autumn breeze, with a glass of red wine before me. This is precisely the spot where you used to duel Yugi-boy, so long ago. I hear that you no longer duel, ever since Yugi-boy's counterpart, the Pharaoh, left the world. Yes, I know all about that; Otogi-boy tells me everything. Instead you decided to set up a Duel Academy. What a joke! Who ever needs to be taught to play Duel Monsters? All you have to do is to look at the rulebook!

I visit your school sometimes, just for the fun of it, and I have not missed the fact that you have arranged Obelisk, the God Card you once owned, to be the top-ranked dormitory. The students at your school don't seem to have much potential, I must say - and they are still relying on me to design cards to help them save the world. They dream of being the Duel King of the next generation, but they will never beat you, or Yugi-boy, or myself, for that matter, even though they would not have a chance to challenge me anymore.

I am only waiting to see the sunset for one last time. It is a grand sight, when twilight paint its splendour upon the sea. The whole island will be veiled by its golden light, and the sky would display such flamboyant colours...

Twenty years ago, when I was only seventeen, I had thought of death. My heart was like a empty canvas then, but now it is different. Duel Monsters had changed my life - I met people like Yugi-boy and you - and now the canvas is filled with many colours. But I am tired, tired of a life without Cyndia... I still miss her so much...

Kaiba-boy! I am going to transfer all my shares of Industrial Illusions to you. You will be appointed to be its new CEO. I know you will take good care of it; after all, you have disregarded the copyright of Duel Monsters for years, building your Kaiba Lands everywhere without ever obtaining my consent, and even going as far as designing your own card, the Kaibaman (even though you never released it) that it's like you own Industrial Illusions already.

And in my corporation headquarters, in the room full of Toon Monsters, where I had put the hologram of myself before, you will find a card in the Pot of Greed. Should you ever duel again, it shall come in handy. I painted it myself.

That is all, Kaiba-boy. Take good care of your little brother!

With great affection,

Pegasus James Crawford

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**Afterword**: Only for those who are interested: explanations for selected passages in the "letter". Thank you for reading the story.

_1. "I have only come to owning Industrial Illusions by inheritance"_

It was never said explicitly how Pegasus came to own Industrial Illusions. In the manga, his father was said to be "immensely wealthy" and "managed casinos in Las Vagas". It seems fair to assume that his father also started the business because Pegasus did not seem to have gone through much trouble to come to owning I2.

_2. "Do you still remember the press conference, where we shook hands in front of that red curtain that read "Solid Vision"?"_

"Solid Vision" was wiped in the English version of the anime. This flashback occurs when Sigfried recounted his contempt for Seto Kaiba.

_3. "We then planned the Duelist Kingdom tournament together, so you could build duel arenas on the island with the new system installed."_

This is the first point I wanted to address: it was only said that Kaiba would be a participant, but they must have planned it together because Kaiba evidently still held the technology to the holographic system (or else Pegasus wouldn't be after it) and must have participated in the construction of the duel arenas on Duelist Kingdom.

_4. "I kidnapped Mokuba, partly because he was eavesdropping on my meeting with the Big 5, partly because he supposedly had the password to the KC mainframe… but mostly because otherwise you would not come to the tournament."_

The motivation for Pegasus to kidnap Mokuba was varied, but it's only logical that the last was the main reason.

_5. "…you would have heard the ridiculous tale about their friends blocking the sight of my Sennen Eye from Yugi-boy's mind"_

This is the most ridiculous thing I found in the original plot. It makes no sense to demean Pegasus' love for Cyndia in contrast with the bond between Yugi and his friends, since the love must have been great for him to enter into his "villainous" plot at all.

_6. "When I received the Eye, I had been told that only the chosen one had the power to command it."_

Said by Shadi.

_7. "There was no indication of the sender, but what did I find inside? The blueprints of your holographic system!"_

If you remember the part in the Doma Arc where Pegasus _made a holographic recording of himself_, you might wonder why he ended up using the technology that he almost killed to get and did not actually obtain in the end.

_8. "forgetting that I am the creator of the monster, and I have every right to sue you for copyright violation"_

Just a thought. I'm not sure their contract would have extended to selling the entire Duel Monster merchandise to Kaiba.

_9. "And you wagered your three Blue Eyes in exchange for the one card that could beat Yugi-boy's God Cards"_

Referring to the movie "Pyramid of Light", just to show how entirely ridiculous it was that Kaiba would wager what Pegasus created originally, and that Pegasus would lose to him because he used the same strategy again.

_10. "As the creator of Duel Monsters, I ought not have lost even though she had the Orichalcos card."_

Only my personal opinion, so I struggled to give my own personal explanation.

_11. "You probably knew why I made a hologram of myself, instead of choosing the much easier way of leaving a letter or a video tape."_

Because I don't know why. The method seems quite superfluous. But in the end I managed to come up with two reasons after all.

_12. "But of course, nobody would give any thoughts to send me a word of thanks, would they?"_

I just cannot get over the fact that they would never have saved the world without Pegasus' help, but nobody ever mentions it.

_13. "Instead you decided to set up a Duel Academy."_

Obviously referring to GX. And it beats me why you need to _attend a school_ to learn to play Duel Monsters, when no one in the original series required such training.

_14. "they are still relying on me to design cards to help them save the world."_

I read it from the plot synopsis, so correct me if I was wrong. I never watched GX.


End file.
